Long time since I posted in this particular forum. Been doing a lotta small trips. Reported here is a collection of a few small trips I managed to do with a bunch of fellow hobbyists near Madras (Chennai for some), my hometown.

We had received news off some rather surprising fish found there and hence planned quite a few trips there.

This was where we 'wetted' our nets most of the time.

I know it doesnt look like much but we got a decent haul from this place.

Channa gachua

Pseudosphromenus cupanus

Cardinia gracilirostris

Puntius dorsalis

Oryzias dancena

Rasbora daniconius

Esomus danricus

Puntius ticto

Lepidocephalichthys guntea

Etroplus maculatus

Badis badis (A very very delightful find.)

Hemochromis bimaculatus (A rather nauseating find)

Mystus cf.bleekeri (???). Trip objective accomplished for me.

Pterygoplichthys Sp. This one we saw in a fisherman's catch. Now who can stand up and yell proudly " We dont have the damn plecos in our waters??"

You know there is that feeling you get whenever you leave for a trip??? "I think I packed everything but Im pretty sure I didnt". Well none of us had that but we still managed to not take a Photo Tank. So we resorted to using the bags or our greasy hands to take pics of the fish.

The fisherman's haul

Notopterus notopterus

Glossogobius giuris

The Lake.

The second spot was bout 4 kms from here and had yielded some nice Puntius to people who had collected here earlier.

The Spot.

Let me take a minute to tell you this was the toughest spot I have collected in. Slush!!!!!!!! Tonnes and tonnes of slush!!!! Lift your feet, place 'em back and watch 'em plunge a coupla feet deep into the mud. I would happily walk the plank rather than these waters on any day!!

Since the area of the lake is pretty large, there are outlets all over the place. Some of 'em were feasible for collecting. Though it looked promising, another spot yielded only one interesting species:

Macrognathus pancalus

En route a new spot, we peeked again into another fisherman's catch :

Sob!!!!!

Etroplus maculatus

Hyporamphus limbatus

Osteobrama cotio

Salmostoma Sp.

The final spot

Nilssonia leithii

Channa punctata

Puntius gelius

Nicely coloured up Badis badis. These are not supposed to be found here.They were supposed to be confined to the Northern part of India but recent field trips have lead to collections of this species down South too.

One fish we were really looking forward to collect was the Horadandia atukorali but not even one specimen was collected or even sighted. These schooling fish were sighted in the hundreds by a few other hobbyists a few months ago. Haven been able to zero in on the location yet.

I was compensated though by the Parambassis lala. Never has a Glass Fish attracted me. This little beauty is 'supposedly' quite peacefull in the aquarium unlike other Glass Fish which are rather evil. Wasnt able to bring 'em back cos I didnt have any tank that suited 'em. Next time though.

Herps we spotted here were An Olive keelback, a few Calotes and a few Sitana. A few friends went and collected a nice and fat Russell's Viper last week or so. Lemme see if I can dig up that pic too sometime soon.

A few more trips will be planned to this lake as it seems to hold great promise to hobbyist folks.

P.gelius,B.badis,M.bleekeri and O.cotio that are recently reported species from this lake though collections have been going on here since 1910.

Very strangely, haven even seen a single Clariid on any of my trips thought they are supposed to be found in abundance down here.

Picture credits to everyone who went on the trip except me. More soon hopefully.........

Balaji

Customer:Not much of a cheese shop really, is it?Shopkeeper:Finest in the district, sir.Customer:And what leads you to that conclusion?Shopkeeper:Well, it's so clean.Customer:It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese.

Yes. Thats a spelling error. Meant to type Hemichromis only. These were in breeding mode. So colours were awesome except they arent really welcome here.

Balaji

Customer:Not much of a cheese shop really, is it?Shopkeeper:Finest in the district, sir.Customer:And what leads you to that conclusion?Shopkeeper:Well, it's so clean.Customer:It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese.

nvcichlids wrote:AWESOME!!! Love that little eel. and the Badis is another of my non catfish favorites.

BTW, are there any other dario/badis species found around you??

Nope. Even the Badis found here was a surprise. They were thought to be a North Indian species but have been found here and in a few other locations in South India.

Balaji

Customer:Not much of a cheese shop really, is it?Shopkeeper:Finest in the district, sir.Customer:And what leads you to that conclusion?Shopkeeper:Well, it's so clean.Customer:It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese.

"My journey is at an end and the tale is told. The reader who has followed so faithfully and so far, they have the right to ask, what do I bring back? It can be summed up in three words. Concentrate upon Uganda."Winston Churchill, My African Journey

Customer:Not much of a cheese shop really, is it?Shopkeeper:Finest in the district, sir.Customer:And what leads you to that conclusion?Shopkeeper:Well, it's so clean.Customer:It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese.

Customer:Not much of a cheese shop really, is it?Shopkeeper:Finest in the district, sir.Customer:And what leads you to that conclusion?Shopkeeper:Well, it's so clean.Customer:It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese.

This Lake gets part of its water from the Krishna River (from a different South Indian state) where there are reports of Badis badis.Also, they have been collected from areas that are almost inaccessible to most people. So we cant really arrive at a conclusion right now.

Balaji

Customer:Not much of a cheese shop really, is it?Shopkeeper:Finest in the district, sir.Customer:And what leads you to that conclusion?Shopkeeper:Well, it's so clean.Customer:It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese.

I have been wanting to keep the Puntius dorsalis for sometime now. So planned a trip with a few fellow hobbyists to the lake again this morning. Also wanted to collect some shrimps to feed the Bagrids I have.

The First Spot

Puntius dorsalis. Gorgeous fish. Sorta like a mini Tor. Very common over most of South India. Grows to around a foot in length and is a food fish for the locals. Was described by Jerdon in 1849 from Madras.

Anguilla bengalensis

Moved over to the shrimp spot next.

The spot.

Mastacemblus pancalus

Mystus cf. bleekeri

Lotsa doomed shrimps later, we moved over to cleaner water to pack the fish. Saw quite a few Olive Keelback (Atretium schistosum). Managed to take a very shaky video of one of 'em.

The P.dorsalis is just settling in. It is holding itself quite well against the Bagrids. The perfect and the most easily accessible barb (over here) to keep with Mystus along with P.sarana and P.orphoides in my opinion. Planning to catch another two or three in the coming weeks.

Balaji

Customer:Not much of a cheese shop really, is it?Shopkeeper:Finest in the district, sir.Customer:And what leads you to that conclusion?Shopkeeper:Well, it's so clean.Customer:It's certainly uncontaminated by cheese.